HI... I am 24yrs old.. with a mouth.. that has made every dentist I have seen for consultation gasp... I am literally... very sick from this... every tooth.. and that is not an underestimate... needs to be yanked... the teeth I have left.. which are 17... 11 of them are black.. or just root left... I cant eat anymore... I cant sleep .. I have constant migranes... I have lost 15 lbs because I cant even eat anymore literally... infection pours out of my mouth on a weekly basis.. to which.. if it gets to bad.. i have to go to the emregency room for antibiotics to take care of it until it infects right back up again.. I know 15lbs does not seem like alot.. but I am 125lbs.. I am also 5'9 1/2.... I cant even work... I am CONSTANTLY in pain..I am very poor.. medicaid will not take me...I am partially deaf so i cant make phone calls ...and every dentist I have seen has told me thousands of dollars.. or a hefty up front fee to work on my mouth.. I am not a slacker.. but after being a single mom for so long.. and neglecting my teeth for what I thought was a greater good my daughter... I am now.. royally screwed... I have been in pain for a few years now.. i am a tough chick.. however..i cant take it anymore.. and I have no idea what else to do... I have infection up to my eyes... literally.. and infection is in both ears... and what I mean by this is NOT oh my ears hurt.. stuff is comming out of them... im in bad shape..I need help .. options.. anything... I dont have any family to speak of.. and medicaid said its onyl good for yanking but still denied me... I am scared...any advice?? suggestions are more than welcome at this point.. thank you for reading

spyke,

I"m so sorry, i know parents always putting their kids before themselves. you did the right thing even though you are suffering now for it. Here are some things to possibly look into.

1) dental schools - cheaper than dentist, good work, but everything take 3 - 5x longer depending.
2) some states have free or low cost clinics for people at the poverty line. There are two such places in virginia (american red cross clinic, norfolk, chesapeake care free clinic). I'm assuming other states might have similar places.
3) a compassionate dentist who is not all about money. someone who can do a long payment plan etc.
4) hospital residency class - some hospitals are teaching hospitals and will have several dental residents. might be a long shot though.

where are you located?

Spyke,
I too have EXTREMELY rotten teeth. Each and every one of them. I just went to the dentist the other day to look at just 3 of the worst ones, and she said all 3 need root canals....I am beside myself I am so upset.
So take some comfort that you are not alone.
I would suggest that you get them all pulled out and get on some anti-biotics and then dentures. Teeth extraction when done while you are awake is not too expensive. And if you go to a dental school I'm sure it doesn't cost too much.
Once you get all these bad teeth out you will start to feel better.

thank you for your suggestions they are very helpful and at least something to look into!!:) And yes it is nice to know I am not alone in this.. people look at you like you are lower if your teeth are bad... I dont even smile anymore have not smiled for years truth be known.. I appreciate the responces though!!! and I did not realize dental schools had that sort of thing .. thank you again.. I was not sure if anyone would respond or not figured it was worth a shot:)

ps christai77 I am in st george utah... where there are alot of rich snobs... and they look down at you for being poor... the dentists I saw out here were the cheapest ones and still treated me like scum... I am a clean cut and if i say so nice looking girl... just with a mouth full of rotten teeth... so a sympathetic dentist out here.. seems far fetched... however... the dental school thing i really think i am going to try to find one might be my best bet i think:)

i am all too familiar with that attitude from doctors/dentists etc. I am sorry that people have to be that way. unfortunately people judge other people on so many levels that are useless, and dentists being masters of teeth are no different. Utah, utah,...i'm trying to think if there's a dental school in utah.... i'll have to look into that separately. if you ever plan to travel to the northeast, let me know i may be able to help you.

i also have friends in washington state, minnesota, iowa (soon), and virginia, so if you have family there maybe we can try and work something.

hey, i just searched for "free dental clinic utah" and a bunch of things came up, a couple not in your area but here was a few.

1)Southwest Utah Community Health Center Dental Clinic
[phone number and street address removed]
St. George, Utah
Medicaid, PCN, CHIP, sliding fee scale

2)The Doctors' Free Clinic of St. George
[phone number and street address removed]
St. George, Utah
Patients below 150% of federal poverty level and without dental insurance

I cut and copied that direct. Hopefully that is the same St. george you live in. I unfortunately can't vouch for the doctors/dentist who work at these places, but let me say this if it is a volunteer organization at least you can saw that the dentists have kind hearts for volunteering their time.

please let me know how it goes.

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HI there Spyke.

YOU are certainly not along. I have had bad teeth since I was a baby due to a birth mother giving birth to me on drugs and I was an addict for teh first 2 months of my life. I spent most of my first year in the hospital on medications. When my adopted parents got me at 12 months old, I already had my 3 year molars.

I was told at 3 years old I would have dentures before I was 25. Well I am 29 and will be having all my teeth removed soon. Every tooth has been filled, root canaled, crowned and a few pulled in the back. I have cavities in each of them again now and it is just not worth the hassle to keep trying to get them fixed. PLUS I am like you I dont like to smile.

I am getting my teeth removed , then in 6 months will be getting mini implants on the bottom and then 6 months after that getting mini implants on the top to hold the dentures in place.

I have decided to just get it done now and stop waiting. I want to feel better about myself again.

Please keep us updated on your situation and if you find someone to help you out!

Traci

Hi Spyke and Traci

So sorry to read about your dilemmas concerning your dental problems. About two years back at age 35 and post treatment for cancer, my teeth deteriorated to the point where I was left with no option but to have them all pulled with the view to being fitted with dentures. My dental plan at the time was very limited and on the advice of my dentist I elected to wait three months post extraction for the gums to heal and then be fitted with dentures. I share your frustration in not being able to find a dentist willing to remove all my teeth. I had suffered with chronic headaches, absesses etc and clearly the removal of all my teeth was necessary. However, the dentist who eventually agreed to do it must have been about the 5th one I had seen (this despite all of them being of the same opinion re all teeth needing to go - go figure!).

My husband was amazingly supportive, as well as colleagues and friends, knowing the agony I had gone through with my natural teeth. It is horrible however how the general public tend to view those of us in the unfortunate position of being toothless through necessity rather than choice. Whilst I was waiting for my gums to heal I was subjected to a good many cruel jibes by the ignorant few out there. I refused to let that get me down though as it was such a relief to finally be free of pain. We entertained as before, sometimes going out for dinner/dancing. Initially I felt quite self conscious as other diners would stare when I gummed my food. When there are no teeth to grind the food one tends to bear down further so that the gums can mash whatever is between them, giving the face a squashed up look. Also when speaking it is obvious that one is toothless, especially when mouthing certain words with f's or s's. I'm also known for my great big guffaw, something I felt was not necessary to suppress just because I was toothless. The only thing that changed was that instead of flashing pretty white teeth all I had to offer were well rounded pink gums! Before I knew it three months had passed and I was fitted with beautiful dentures that came a close second to my natural teeth before they went bad. In retrospect I'm glad I waited because the fit was really good and I experience relatively few problems in adjusting to life with false teeth.

So for those of you who are needing to go this route, know that you are not alone and a good set of dentures is a lot better than having to put up with all the health problems you encounter with teeth that have decayed beyond repair.

Traci, will you also be waiting for your gums to heal before your implants are done for dentures, or will you be going the immediate denture route in the interim?

To both of you, I wish you the best of luck.

Cheers
Charmaine

I understand completely, I am going thru that now, I have no insurance that will cover dental, I use to have a pretty smile, but more than half of my teeth are gone, and some are partially gone, I have gum disease, and I have chronic sinusitus, and ear problems...I live on a fixed income, and I barely have enough to make it to the end of the month. I don't understand why medicade will not cover dental...can they not see that dental problems lead to other serious problems with heart disease? And the infections can become systemic..I am trying to save money just to get to the dentist, but they want $85 or more just to walk in the door...I called a couple of agencies, one said they only take people that live in the city, I live in the county, there is a dental clinic at the local community college, but they only do extractions, the county clinic only does extractions, they don't do dentures... I don't want to walk around with no teeth, I want dentures...this is so rediculas! My whole family have this teeth problem, our teeth just start detererating, they crumble, and we get gingavitus, ect.

My heart aches for all of you. I'm in the same boat. I don't know about your area, but here we have UCLA which has a dental school. They charge about half of what a regular dentist charges. The thing is, you have to agree to ongoing treatment (which I would love), to get your teeth and gums completely healed. They won't just do an extraction or root canal. This means visits once or twice a week and payment is due at the time services are performed. At each visit, you can expect to spend 3 hours there. Even at half the price, I can't begin to afford it. I couldn't miss that much work and expect to keep my job for one thing. Plus living here in CA we're just barely making it as it is. I just don't have that kind of available cash.

Medicaid won't help my sister either. She has emphysema for starters. She constantly coughs, can't walk across the room without running out of breath. She was born with enlongated lungs, and years of working in her husband's refinishing shop before they were divorced destroyed them. Since he paid her in cash, she has no work history through the SS administration. She raised kids all her life, and still is.....has been raising her grandchild for 11 years now. She has maybe 3 or 4 teeth in her mouth, all rotten. None in the front and can't get help anywhere. I just don't understand it. Spyke, what reason did they give you for refusing you medicaid?

Barb, I know exactly what you're talking about. I'm the only one left in my family with halfway usable teeth. My mother had all of hers pulled when she was 30. My brother recently went down to Mexico and got dentures, my sister has only a few teeth, and I'm fighting periodontal disease with everything I have. Just had a fourth tooth extracted yesterday. It cost $150. LOL, that's less than what I've paid in the past when I lived in Arkansas. I thought it would be more expensive, like everything else here in CA.

Charmaine, I think one of my biggest fears is ending up having to go through what you had to. Thank God you were finally able to get dentures. It sure is nice to hear a happy ending for once. It's great too, when you have a supportive and understanding family. My husband is very supportive, thankfully. I wish I could just get dentures and be done with it. Maybe Mexico...............??? My brother seems to be happy with the dentures he got there. My heart and thoughts are with all of you.

My heart goes out to all!! No one should have to suffer cause a lack of finances or understanding dentists.
Good luck to all:)

chatty

Char thanks for the post! I will be getting immediate dentures til I get my mini implants and I am healed..

Traci

thank you all so much for posting and information and stories !! I have not been able to reply I went into the hospital it started going septic in my body and was on iv drugs a few days... an emergency dentist puleld one of my teeth.. but said with my problems that definately would not fix it.. oddly enough he had not any information for me and seemed bothered to have pulled that one in the first place!!! nice eh?? anyhow christi the information was wonderful I am almost totally deaf these days :) but the address was great!let me tell you all of you have been very supportive and kind.. I cant tell you how many disgusted looks i have gotten from people... it has been really nice to know at least.. that there are good people still out there:) I am feeling better but still a little weak.. I am going to try and get an appointment at that clinic, I checked their schedule and from what i understand their dentist is only there on fridays.. shoot even if its yanked one at a time at this point im saying please yank um!! thank you all so much again!!-Dana :)